Roll for reducing old rails



NITED STATES JOHN H. BROWN, OF BAY VIEV, VISCONSIN.

ROLL FOR REDUCING OLD RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NoA 333,385, dated December 29, 1885.

Application filed September 14, 1885. Serial No. 177,023. (No model.)

`o all whom, t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. BROWN, of Bay View, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breaking-Down Rolls for Rolling-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to asystem of utilizing old steel rails of any length, from a broken piece a foot long to a full-length thirty-feet rail, whereby they are broken down"7 and converted into merchant steel of square-edged flats without showing any seam whatever; and the said invention consists, primarily, of three rolls having peculiar conformations on their circumferences, whereby this object is accomplished.

rIhe drawing is a vertical central section of my improved breaking-down rolls.

Heretofore the utilization of oldsteel rails has been attempted, and what are known as billets have been made therefrom consisting of square bars of steel; but, so far as known to me, these billets have shown seams where the flanges of the rails had been broken down against the web or stem in the formation of the billet, and this is a serious objection, to

Arail is utilized in the formation of the fiat, and

that, as stated, without showing any seam.

My breaking-down rolls are three in number, A, B, and C, and the rolls A and G are geared so as to revolve in the same direction, while the roll B, intermediate therewith, is geared so as to revolve in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrows, the train of gears for accomplishing this object being of the well-known and ordinary construction common to rolling-mills, and hence l have not deemed it necessary to show the same in the drawings.

The roll A is provided on its operative part between its journals with seven circumferential guiding-collars, g g g, &c., of different and gradually-diminishing diameters'from one end toward the other, as shown. Between theiirst two of these guiding-collars g gis an operative collar, o, while the space between the second and third guiding-collars g g (as shown from right to left in the drawings) isablank or even surface, g', and so on, the blank even spaces g g2 g3 alternating withv the operative collars a, c, and e, while on each side of said operative -collars are circular depressions or circumferential grooves of different depths, marked, respectively, a a, c3 c, and e3 e", the said pairs of grooves growing, generally, shallower from right to left, as shown. p

The roll B is provided with seven deep circumferential guiding-grooves, t t' t', &c., to admit of the guiding-collars gg of the upper roll,

.A, revolving therein, and consequently these grooves grow shallower from right to left, corresponding with the decreasing diameters of said collars g g. Between the rst and second groovesi t' (always counting from right to left) are other and shallower grooves, a5 a, (of different depths,) having. Vbetween them vthe (relatively) raised portion a', of the same diameter as that of each end of said roll B. Between the second and third grooves it' are the grooves b5 b and intermediate higher portion, b', of 'same diameter as the portion a', just described, and so on, the roll being provided between others of its grooves it' with the grooves c5 c, d5 d, and e5 e, and intermediate portions c', d, and e', respectively, up to the point between the last two of the guiding-grooves it', which is free from other grooves, but has the level portion f only.

The roll C is more nearly a counterpart of the roll A, except that the arrangement of its collars and its circumferential grooves and blank or even spaces is alternate with relation to the position of the like parts in said roll A. It has seven guiding-collars, h h, &c., corresponding to the said guidingcollars g g of roll A, three smooth or even surfaces, h h2 h3, and an eXtra even surface, f, at the left-hand end, (between the last two guiding-collars h 71,)and hence two (instead of three) operativecollars, b and d, and grooves b3 b4 and cl3 d4, respectively, on each side of said operative collars.

The operation of my device is as follows: The steel rail or section thereof to be broken down is introduced at the point ai between the rolls A and B, which, as stated, revolve in opposite directions, and carry the rail between them, slightly-breaking it down, and then the IOO vIG

said rail is brought back through the space b2 between the rolls B and C, (similarly revolving in opposite directions to each other,) and neXt the rail is carried through at the point c2, brought back at the point d2, carried through the point e2, and finally brought back at the point f 2, which results in the production of a flat of steel made from the original rail without the slightest seam or any evidence of its rginal shape at the beginning of the operaiou. f

My rolls A, B, and C are made of cast-iron. y

The steel flats7 produced from the old rails by mydescribed rolls and system of operating the same can be manufactured into the following-named articles: No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 wire rod; also, one-fourth, five-sixteenths, and three'eighthsinch rounds and squares; also, three-fourths up to two inches in width and three-sixteenths up to seven-sixteenths inch in thickness of roundedge tire; also, the same proportions ofsquare-edge flats, and also into hoops and bands from one to four inches in width, and from No. 14 gage to three-sixteenths of an inch thick; hence it will be seen that my im rovement is of great valuein utilizing what as been before largely Waste material. v

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A series of breaking-down rolls for converting old steel rails into steel flats, consisting of three rolls, one above the other, provided with circumferential collars and intermediate grooves and level portions, the operative portions for the reception of the rails being everywhere of the same width, substantially as set forth.

2. A series of breaking-down rolls for converting old steel rails into steel flats, consisting of three rolls, the upper and lower rolls adapted to revolve in the same direction and the intermediate roll to revolve in the opposite direction, the upper and lower rolls having circumferential guiding-collars of different and diminishing diameters, and the intermediate roll having corresponding circumferential guiding-grooves of different and diminishing depths, together with operative circumferential collars and grooves between the guiding collars and grooves, the operative portions of the rolls for the reception of the rails being everywhere of the same width, substantially as set forth. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in

the county of Milwaukee and State of Wiscon- A sin, in the presence of two witnesses.

i JOHN H. BROWN.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWooD, MAURICE F. FREAR. 

